Judge to wait on whether teen killer is due new hearing

Monday

Dec 3, 2012 at 2:34 PM

Mark Berrios of Jacksonville was a 14-year-old runaway when he shot and killed Olen Lee Hepler, in his Ormond-by-the-Sea home on Aug. 16, 1994.

MARK I. JOHNSONSTAFF WRITER

There is still hope for a new sentence for a man convicted as a teenager of murdering a suspected pedophile and ordered to serve life in prison without parole, according to the killer's attorney. Mark Berrios of Jacksonville was a 14-year-old runaway when he shot and killed Olen Lee Hepler, in his Ormond-by-the-Sea home on Aug. 16, 1994. Hepler, 47, was suspected of being part of a ring of pedophiles who sexually abused young boys. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to sentence children to life sentences without parole without a mitigation hearing. However, an appeals court in Miami, ruled that change was not retroactive. Berrios was 15 when he was convicted and sentenced. He has served 18 years.Palm Beach Gardens attorney Marc Reiner, who represents Berrios, appeared before Circuit Judge Randell Rowe on Nov. 29 with a motion seeking a new sentencing hearing for his client. Reiner said Monday that Rowe deferred ruling on the motion saying he wanted to wait for further decisions from the appellate courts. Rowe's reluctance didn't come as a surprise to Reiner. "I wasn't sure what would happen," Reiner said by telephone. "I would have expected him to rule against us, but he did not do that, keeping our motion open until there are more decisions." State attorney spokeswoman Klare Ly said Assistant State Attorney Rosemary Calhoun argued two courts have supported no retroactivity in the Supreme Court's Miller v. Alabama decision. The court in that case determined it was unconstitutional to sentence children to life without parole without first giving the defendants the opportunity to present proof why they should not receive a lighter sentence. Prosecutors said during Berrios' trial that the teen shot Hepler in the head so he could steal his truck and ATM card. Berrios' defense attorney claimed the teen was protecting himself from sexual assault by Hepler.